The Moon-God people are the darlings of magic. Every Moon-God person is a natural-born mage, and after tens of thousands of years of development, they've advanced magic to an extremely sophisticated level. Their division of magical ranks is simple yet detailed.
Levels 1 to 3 are Magic Apprentices.
Levels 4 to 6 are Magic Warriors.
Levels 7 to 9 are Magic Mentors.
Levels 10 to 12 are Magic Masters.
Levels 13 to 15 are Magic Grandmasters.
Levels 16 to 18 are Magic Saints.
Levels 19 to 21 are Magic Gods.
The current Queen is a level 21 Magic God.
Besides being magic's chosen, the Moon-God people also possess extremely strong perception. Additionally, they have an exceptionally long lifespan—ordinary Moon-God folk live for 300 years, and the higher their magic rank, the longer they live.
For example, the current Moon-God Queen has already lived for over a thousand years.
Nissa is only a level-3 Magic Apprentice, but thanks to her royal bloodline, her perception is many times stronger than that of ordinary Moon-God people.
That's why she can sense that the man and woman outside the starship pose a threat to them.
She senses that the tall man holds energy at least equal to a level-9 Magic Mentor, while the woman is slightly weaker, probably able to exert the power of a level-7 Magic Mentor.
Even if she and her two maids joined forces, they wouldn't be a match for that woman—let alone the even stronger man. So, for these past few days, the three of them have had no choice but to hide inside the starship, without even a chance to search for energy stones.
Suddenly, Nissa curiously looked around and hesitantly said, "Why do I feel like someone is spying on me? Nana, Lulu, do you sense anything?"
Both maids shook their heads, indicating they sensed nothing at all.
"Maybe I'm just being too sensitive," Nissa said softly.
Up in the sky, on a flying sword shrouded in water vapor, Ian Song's eyes flashed with surprise. He couldn't hear what the elven girl was saying, but from her expression, Ian could deduce that she had sensed his Clairvoyant Vision probing them.
She may be weak, but her perception is astonishingly strong. That piqued his curiosity.
"Forget it, no point overthinking. I'll just snatch this starship first!"
Just as Ian was about to make his move, several thousand meters away, dozens of blood-red bats suddenly flew toward the crash site. At the same time, more than fifty burly men over two meters tall, all clad in black iron battle armor and wielding various weapons, broke into the U.S. military's cordon.
The U.S. troops didn't waste words with the intruders—they opened fire immediately.
Rat‑tat‑tat‑tat!
Flames erupted as a rain of bullets poured wildly toward the more than fifty armored giants.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
But to the soldiers' shock, their bullets couldn't penetrate the armored giants' suits.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
That was the sound of sniper rifles.
In terms of penetration and firepower, sniper rifles are far more powerful than ordinary firearms.
What's more, the three sniper rifles were firing armor-piercing rounds.
But to the soldiers' despair, even armor-piercing rounds couldn't break through the armored giants' suits.
"Bastards, enjoying your shooting spree? Now it's our turn!"
A roar echoed from inside the armor.
Next, the giants burst forward, instantly closing in on the U.S. soldiers and swinging their weapons with crushing force.
It was a massacre.
Bullets couldn't penetrate their armor, and their strength was terrifying—often, a single swing of their weapons would send several U.S. soldiers flying more than ten meters.
In less than a minute, these giants had dealt with hundreds of U.S. soldiers—dead or gravely wounded.
Reinforcements were rushing in from all sides, but the battle ended far too quickly.
The giants, who appeared clumsy, actually moved with astonishing speed. After finishing off the soldiers, they charged forward like a herd of mad bulls—at most five minutes to reach the starship.